Hello,

Am 14.11.2010 um 13:09 schrieb Gašper Kvartič:
> I have a home made hurdy...
> The hurdy appears to be too quiet.

> What could be the cause of this? And: How can I make it louder? Could it be 
> the strings? I'm using guitar and violin strings, wound steel.

Finding out about the right tension is the central issue. If the tension is too 
low, the best string will sound weak. 

Before all, check if string pressure onto the bridge and rosin is right.

Then take the given strings and tune them up step by step - if neccessary 
re-cotton - untill the string is loud enough. Now check the pitch, whatever it 
is. 
You now know that this string sounds right at that pitch. This is a starting 
point to recalculate the string for the pitch desired. If the tension is too 
high now - the string too hard to play - or the string breakes its anything 
else but the string that is wrong:

* string pressure onto the bridge
* rosin, wheelsurface
* cottoning
* bridge
* soundpost
* string angles at the bridge
* general construction

If you need high tension strings for satisfying volume it helps to look for 
strings that are easyier bendable, like some artificial strings are, made off 
metal rope or strands off fibers.

> I've heard that gut strings are louder and really fit for the HG. Is that 
> true? Should I switch?

No. Plain gut strings are not louder than wound steel. What "really fits" to 
your hurdy-gurdy depends on several things: the music you want to make, the 
type of instrument,... 

Plain gut strings have two advantages: they are tradition (meaning they are 
"correct" for traditional music) and they are cheap (compared to wound viola 
strings of any kind). 

Kind regards, Simon

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